New daily driver, any thoughts…

[Grn92LX]

I have lightbulbs blow out every week or so. My moonroof when in the vent position closes on its own a few times before staying open, and one time even opened on its own. I had the radio cut out one day until I unhooked the battery. The glove box light stays on, then one day stopped working even when open, and now it only goes on if I open the glove box and then actually push the door further open. The passenger rear window doesn't go down automatically anymore. Although not electrical the windshield washer spray doesnt work anymore, it pumps the fluid out somewhere under the car. Also not sure if it ever worked, or what it does but the lumbar on the seats is a 4 way switch. Front and back on the switch works the seat back lumbar, but the up and down on the switch does nothing. Every once in a while after stopping and starting I notice my third brake light (not sure if it's just the third or all of them) stays on after I'm long off the brakes. Like between 1st and 2nd gear I still see it glowing, then it usually goes off.

Nothing major, nothing mechanically wrong, just annoying little things that bother me. I wouldn't call the car junk, as they all have their issues (My 95 Jeeps electrical issues make this one look great) but I was hoping to avoid these things with a newer car.

I've got simple fixes for the bold:

Sunroof fix: http://www.a4mods.com/#index.php?page=webcontent/pages/sunroof.html

Auto window fix: Reset it by pressing the botton to close it, then when it closes press the botton again for a second or 2 and HOLD it. It will reset

I agree, German cars can be quirky, but theres nothing like that German Engineered suspension!

Do you have any mods done to yours? How many miles? Have you done the timing belt/water pump service?

 

[riceslayer302]

if you get the audi dont forget the bag of sand port and polish mod... i see more audi 1.8t A4's broken down on the side of connecticut highways and on flatbeds than any other car. granted all the owners are middle aged women who work in insurance offices but idk, i wouldn't trust one. my cousin blew up 3 trannies in his S4 before he owned it 2 full years

scion XB? i hear they have quite the community in the los angeles area... quite possibly the lamest car EVER.

ive personally never seen a mitsubishi anything last long when driven hard... not saying they arent cool or reliable, just all the ones ive seen have broke or been driven into telephone poles.

imho, +1 on the WRX or anything american.

 

[aar0s]

I drove the bosses Xb for a weekend and me and the misses really liked it. The newer ones are 150 horse and run better than my Escort gt plus there is tons of room in the thing.
hers is a 01 mustang gt. Im wanting to park it and do some paint work on it, keyed all the way around. It will be probably summer before we are able to buy anything new but im trying to get an idea of what to look for. Not too concerned about fast, thats what the mustangs are for (we both have one) but we are talking about starting a family, so I think that we are looking for a four door. That puts the volvo out.

 

[riceslayer302]

sell me the escort for cheap.

 

[aar0s]

right now the power windows/blower motor/windshield wipers dont work. It has a killer exh. leak and the radio is iffy. that damn 1.8 mazda dohc eng. is a tank though. I cant count the times ive had to get up for a fire call in the middle of a sub 20 deg. night and done cold start shifts to 6500 and it dont bitch one bit with over 134k on the clock. Im going to drive it a little while longer, dont see the need in dirtying up a new car with stank ass fire gear.

 

[bentley429]

Id like a 1st gen tsi talon for a daily!

 

[NIKwoaC]

if you get the audi dont forget the bag of sand port and polish mod... i see more audi 1.8t A4's broken down on the side of connecticut highways and on flatbeds than any other car. granted all the owners are middle aged women who work in insurance offices but idk, i wouldn't trust one. my cousin blew up 3 trannies in his S4 before he owned it 2 full years

scion XB? i hear they have quite the community in the los angeles area... quite possibly the lamest car EVER.

ive personally never seen a mitsubishi anything last long when driven hard... not saying they arent cool or reliable, just all the ones ive seen have broke or been driven into telephone poles.

imho, +1 on the WRX or anything american.

For once, you and I agree on something, haha.

 

[smokin joe]

My boss had the 1 gen Scion XB, wait is this a correct statement? Anyway it had plenty of interior head/leg room. He usually had at least 3 of us with him going to lunch if not 4 with no complaints. He did have the factory lowering kit on it with 17" wheels and I cannot say that the ride was bad at all. Last but not least he did get about 30mpg. I really have nothing bad to say about them if it is just to be used as a daily driver.

 

[grey5.0beast]

My 2003 A4 1.8T has one of those options as well...




Nice car, runs great, love the options and the interior, but it has had its share of electrical issues, and like stated above, I might have trashed 3rd gear!

Yeah my buddy has almost the exact car and his reverse doesn't work sometimes. He said it had something to do with a tranny solenoid that goes haywire and ****s up the tranny but IDK. Also their glove boxes are like our ash tray doors.

If I was to get a DD right now and had a decent budget it would be an 06+ TL

 

[GroverDill]

CTS-V's are cheap now. buy one!

 

[QUICK91LX]

If you are going to get a ghey box car, at least go with the honda element over the xB. Must more of a "real" car and available 4wd. Scion is a Echo/Yaris based junker...well the new ones are Corolla based but that really isnt saying much either.

 

[nisreo]

Beware of wrx's, they like to spin crank bearings with the quickness. I was never one to beat on my 04 but I took it to the trank one day and bounced of the rev limiter once (one bounce) and it spun a bearing. Subaru wouldnt warranty it because I did my own oil changes. All I had done was a reflash and some little stuff and the motor popped.

heres my old rex for the hell of it.

and here she is, during surgery..... suck

 

[1990Coupe]

I loved my subie

 

[25thmustang]

Yeah my buddy has almost the exact car and his reverse doesn't work sometimes. He said it had something to do with a tranny solenoid that goes haywire and ****s up the tranny but IDK. Also their glove boxes are like our ash tray doors.

If I was to get a DD right now and had a decent budget it would be an 06+ TL

I looked into the TLs, the issue was the 6-speed ones were very rare, and when I was looking they wanted upwards ot $8K to $10K more than what I spent on my Audi. Same thing with the G35s and CTS-Vs I looked at back when I purchased this car.

The thing is all these dumb issues need to be fixed before I could think of selling and buying something else. Then once they are fixed, I figure why even bother selling to pick up a larger car payment?

Its a viscious cycle.

 

[nisreo]

04+ TL'S have 3rd gear synchro problems, mostly because honds in general are notchy going into third, so its easy to miss. Acura will cover your car up to 4 years or 50K. Buy the extended warranty and youll be good to 100K

I just replaced a clutch on an 06 TL last week. it was the worst I had ever seen. The kid didnt tell my he also blew 3rd and 4th gear, so I put it all back together, drove it and found out then. Cost the kid and extra $1050 in labor for me to pull it apart again and replace his gears and synchros.

His clutch:

 

[89_LX]

if your looking at scion's you should look at the scion TC. there around 18,000 new so you could get a used one cheaper. i would stay away from audi (volkswagen), jeep, dodge, nissan (infiniti). i personally would never buy a subaru or mitsu product either. also hyundai's seem to be getting good attention and reviews lately. The only thing i'd probably ever consider would be certain models of ford, toyota (lexus), or honda(acura). even though i think the latter two are overrated products. especially toyota.

just my opinion though

its was interesting working at a dealership that sells toyota,honda,nissan,volkswagen,and jeep.

 

[1990Coupe]

Jesus that clutch is toast!!!!!

if your looking at scion's you should look at the scion TC. there around 18,000 new so you could get a used one cheaper. i would stay away from audi (volkswagen), jeep, dodge, nissan (infiniti). i personally would never buy a subaru or mitsu product either. also hyundai's seem to be getting good attention and reviews lately. The only thing i'd probably ever consider would be certain models of ford, toyota (lexus), or honda(acura). even though i think the latter two are overrated products. especially toyota.

just my opinion though

its was interesting working at a dealership that sells toyota,honda,nissan,volkswagen,and jeep.

I have had 3 jeep cherokees go over 200k miles, My current one just hit 200k. Original everything.. My dads cherokee has 255k on it original everything and pulls a 6000lb trailer in the summer time and it runs just fine. So i think you'd be safe with a jeep.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I dunno if i could drive an xB as a daily driver. I mean i'm sure it's a fine car, but i would get bored fast.





I've had my new DD for a week now...and I absolutely love it.

View attachment 287409

 

[SteedaGT9150]

if your looking at scion's you should look at the scion TC. there around 18,000 new so you could get a used one cheaper. i would stay away from audi (volkswagen), jeep, dodge, nissan (infiniti). i personally would never buy a subaru or mitsu product either. also hyundai's seem to be getting good attention and reviews lately. The only thing i'd probably ever consider would be certain models of ford, toyota (lexus), or honda(acura). even though i think the latter two are overrated products. especially toyota.

just my opinion though

its was interesting working at a dealership that sells toyota,honda,nissan,volkswagen,and jeep.

the hell is wrong with jeeps? my dad has had nothing but wranglers almost his whole life and has had no problems. brother had a grand cherokee with 255k, moms got a gc limited 100k, and other bros got a gc 120k, and no major problems. jeeps are comfy as hell and will pretty much go anywhere through anything.

 

[1990Coupe]

the hell is wrong with jeeps? my dad has had nothing but wranglers almost his whole life and has had no problems. brother had a grand cherokee with 255k, moms got a gc limited 100k, and other bros got a gc 120k, and no major problems. jeeps are comfy as hell and will pretty much go anywhere through anything.

Thanks for the backup on the jeeps!!!